My observation with coupons: a lot of the foods offered in coupons are not healthy and/or not things we buy/eat. I never buy canned soups such as Progresso, it is way expensive compared to homemade…..most soup leftovers can be frozen…….a friend of mine freezes leftover soups in individual bowls, removes frozen soup to a freezer baggie, thus when need a fast meal, person can put frozen soup in bowl and microwave it.
I have found over the years, if we stick to basic foods such as whole grains, dry beans/lentils, vegetables on sale, fruits on sale, meat sparingly, and some of the grocery items on sale in weekly ads…….that I can usually feed us for……$.40 to $1.00 a day per person……plus we have fewer doctor bills because we are eating fiber foods with dense nutritional value to keep us healthy. We don’t have a garden, though we wish we had room for one.
…..My sample of a week menu……… If we are hungry later after dinner, we have a serving of fruit and sometimes I plan a dessert (I like our desserts to be fruit or vegetable based, usually with a one item/one pot meal, not every night).
~oatmeal n’ craisins
~red lentil basil tomato soup (no need for crackers with this, it is filling and yummy)
~homemade creamy mac n’ cheese* / steamed broccoli or steamed broccoli and carrots
*I helped someone make a fast dinner once at their home, of purchased frozen creamy mac n’ cheese and just knew I could make it for way less…..thus we now love homemade creamy mac n’ cheese
~whole wheat pancakes topped with applesauce
~leftover homemade creamy mac n’ cheese / steamed broccoli / carrot sticks
~chicken barley stew / salad / homemade refrigerator crescent rolls*
*this is like pillsbury canned crescent rolls…….so easy…..just have to do a bit of planning ahead to have the dough sit at least overnight in fridge. It’s mix, stir, refrigerate, no fuss and I also like knowing what ingredients are in these rolls :0)
~country potatoes / over easy eggs / fruit
~homemade vegetable soup / biscuits
~(our very favorite) lentil tacos with sr. cream/cilantro/limes/salsa
~pumpkin bars for dessert
~brown rice n’ raisins with cinnamon sugar
~leftover chicken barley stew / celery sticks
~homemade pizza* / fresh veggie tray with ranch dressing
*our family vote for pizza dough is….1 cup of whole wheat flour to replace 1 cup of unbleached flour……we tried more but some said it was ‘too wheaty’…..personally, I prefer 2 cups whole wheat flour with 1 cup unbleached flour :0)
~oatmeal pancakes* with syrup / fruit in season
~leftover vegetable soup / crackers
~slow cooked roast beef / garlic mashed potatoes with gravy / green beans / whole grain rolls
*my oatmeal pancake recipe is all oatmeal except for 1/4 cup unbleached flour….the syrup is a compromise on my part as the family likes syrup
~oven pancake (dutch baby/german style)* / fruit in season
*we don’t like syrup on these, just the butter/olive oil they were baked in and a bit of sea salt, I know it is kinda different, but the fruit is sweet and that helps us avoid using syrup again……making me happy
~leftover red lentil basil tomato soup
~one pot spaghetti* / salad / one pan whole wheat rolls
*I buy ‘Smart Taste’ spaghetti noodles with extra fiber when on sale, as some in my family will not eat whole grain pastas….another family vote
~cracked wheat with butter n’ honey / fruit in season
~leftover roast beef dinner
~rajma on basmati rice
~pineapple upsidedown cake for dessert
Cooking from scratch/homemade becomes a habit that gets easier and easier with practice; the secret is to plan ahead and streamline ahead. Cook large batches of an ingredient such as dry beans, chill then freeze in amounts that will be used for a recipe. Also, have family help and put dry ingredients into zip loc bags for things like pizza dough, one pan rolls, oatmeal pancakes, homemade biscuit mix, etc…..we then make room in fridge to store anything that contains fresh ground whole wheat flour. When I see our supply of these mixes is getting low, we make more before it runs out……
For example: on pizza night, I pull out a gallon zip-loc holding 2 c. unbleached flour/1 c. w.w.flour/1 scant T. yeast/ 1 tsp. sea salt; add right into the gallon bag: 1 T. olive oil + 1 c. warm water; knead it right in the bag, let raise right in the bag while making an easy pizza sauce/grating mozzarella cheese/preparing fresh veggies. This makes 2 thin crust 14″ pizzas. The ranch dressing was already made, as we make it ahead by the quart…..it will keep in fridge about 3/4 weeks (I add 1 T. red wine vinegar to our ranch to help it taste lovely and last longer in fridge).
We have tortilla chips/salsa around regularly as a snack food; all other snacks are made at home except for occasionally buying pretzel sticks. Snacks: peanut butter/homemade freezer jam sandwiches, carrot sticks, celery sticks, apples, bananas, cucumbers, popcorn, biscuits, smoothies, homemade french fries, popovers……to name a few.
